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Smouldering Scars
Ginny surveyed the mess of crumpled messages and tear stained pages. It was no good, he would never want to see her again let alone accept an apology after what she had said. It was true that she knew nothing about him and she, in her anger and resentment, had made a selfish assumption about his life. An assumption that, though it had proved to be true, had struck him hard. Screwing up the last forlorn note that had her heart printed on it, she tossed it in the bin, threw back the covers of her bed and crawled inside, relishing in the warmth of her hidey-hole.
-FLASH BACK-
"You know nothing about me." Draco declared, eyes blazing.
"No, you know nothing about me...and I hope you never will." One single tear fell from her eye and trailed its way down her cheek, dropping between them.
Draco lifted one hand towards her face as if to caress her cheek, then clenching his fist he wrenched his arm away his features contorted in a tornado of fury and pain.
"Stay then. Or go. I don't care which one you choose...I will make your excuses to my aunt and uncle."
"Fine. I won't stay where I'm not wanted."
"Good, glad I got the message across." Draco commented harshly. Ginny had stumbled backwards at this, shock searing its way through her heart. Where had that come from? Flicking a couple of galleons at Ginny he turned away and began walking off, calling back over his shoulder, "That's for your journey home."
"I am perfectly capable of appararting by myself!" Ginny had called back angrily. Draco had turned around, an echo of his old smirk playing around his lips.
"Sure...but in case you get lost."
-END OF FLASHBACK-
Ginny awoke with a start, head pounding. Had she fallen asleep? She could not remember doing so. Glancing around she sighed as her eyes came to lay rest upon her window and its latest...addition. Bars. Ever since she had returned from her sudden disappearance to Beth and Nate's place her parents d not trusted her to go 20 metres outside of their sight. Charlie, Fred and George had been assigned to the task of accompanying her wherever she went, not that she had anywhere to go. Groaning quietly as she stretched out her aching muscles Ginny padded her way downstairs where Mrs. Weasley was busy making a banquet style breakfast. Her father was no doubt outside in his shed, tinkering away at his latest invention. Fred and George regarded her darkly as she descended the stairs, they had not been happy with their new role of 'baby-sitter'. Ginny hardly thought it was her fault; it was her parents who came up with the crazy laws in this house, not her.
"I hope you're not thinking of going out today Gin, because Fred and I have a darn important appointment with Zonko's, today," warned George.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Ginny replied sarcastically. "Why would I want to get out of here and away from the parental units?" George rolled his eyes but Charlie looked thoughtful.
Just one more day. Just one more till she was on the train back to Hogwarts. Ugh! But her family was making it impossible to survive one hour at a time let alone twenty four!
"Gin, why don't you come to work with me, today?" Charlie asked a moment later.
"Really?" Ginny asked, hope beginning to kindle. The thought of battling dragons had never particularly appealed to her but at this point she was willing to take anything over being cooped up at home alone.
"Oh, I don't know if that's such a good idea, Charlie." Mrs. Weasley objected.
"Don't worry mum, I'll take real good care of Gin and it'll give her something to do, instead of wasting away upstairs in her room." Charlie said persuasively.
"I'm not wasting away," Ginny thought to herself but she kept silent for fear of dissuading her mother.
"Alright, but Ginny I do not want you doing anything reckless or foolish," instructed her mother sternly.
"Yes, mum," Ginny said, attempting to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
"Alright Gin, let me finish my breakfast and then we'll go. Don't forget to wear extra layers," Charlie mumbled through a mouthful of toast. Of all of her brothers Charlie had always been her favourite, Ron was just a pain, Fred and George were a heap of fun but also immensely annoying, Percy was a prat and Bill...well he was marrying Phlegm wasn't he? He'd lost any respect Ginny had ever held for him. Racing up the staircase, two at a time Ginny bounded across the corridor and almost galloped into her bedroom.
"Oi, Ginny! Bring your broomstick too!" Charlie yelled up, from the bottom of the staircase. But Ginny barely heard him as she stood, frozen in place, unmoving. There perching on the windowsill of her alcove was a tawny, handsome owl bearing a large package. Bronze. Draco.
Moving in a trance like state Ginny made her way over the owl and undid the string around the packaging that attached itself to Bronze. The owl nipped her hand affectionately and flew off, Ginny watched it go, anticipation curdling unpleasantly in her stomach. Fingers trembling slightly Ginny tore away the packaging and sighed in relief and disappointment...she wasn't sure which. Inside was one of the Prada bags containing her purchases from four days ago...funny it felt more like four months. Turning the bag upside down Ginny scrambled through the assortment of accessories and garments searching for anything, a note, message or even just a lingering smell...nothing. Tears burned treacherously in her eyes but she blinked them away mentally convincing herself that she was better off without any form of communication.
"Ginny! Are you coming, or what?" Charlie called impatiently from the doorstep.
"Yes, yes, yes! Just wait!" she shouted imperiously back down at him. Grabbing her dragon hide coat (for extra protection) she slammed the door to her bedroom shut...and the door to her heart- leaving Draco caught on the inside.
-THE NEXT DAY-
"Take care now, Ginny, won't you?" Ginny rolled her eyes, boarding the Hogwarts Express as her mother fussed around her, Ron, Fred and George. "No silly business or reckless behaviour, do you understand me?" she warned, her tone implying the silent or else.
"Yes, mum. Of course," she muttered, blowing her a half-hearted kiss out the window. The train gave a sudden lurch and emitted a puff of smoke, with that and a loud toot from the driver they were off. Heaving her luggage down the hallway she began the impossible pursuit of finding a free compartment. Usually she would have sat with Ron and Hermione but Hermione was already at Hogwarts having just finished off at IWPD week and Ron was still cursing rather loudly and rudely (much to amusement of a bunch of first years) as he attempted to shove his suitcase into a miniscule space.
A girlish giggle erupted behind Ginny as she continued making her way down the cramped passageway. "Oh Draco, you are so funny!" It took everything Ginny had for her not to whip around and investigate the scene behind her. Instead she stared intently at the row of compartment doors in front of her.
"Oh, hold on Karissa...I'll be right back, save me a spot will you?" Ginny heard Karissa agree before sending him an air-blown kiss and giggling loudly.
"Hey, you alright, can I give you a hand?" She heard him inquire as he attempted to pass by. Ginny whipped around as she felt him place a hand on her shoulder and brought her foot down on top of his-hard.
Ginny heard him swear under his breath before his instincts kicked in having clearly not expected such a brutal reaction. Within seconds Draco had his wand out and under her chin. It took him a couple of seconds to realise just who he now had pressed up against the wall. Their eyes locked and an eternity seemed to pass between them as they breathed heavily.
Raising an eyebrow Ginny gave him a not-so-gentle shove before hissing: "Do you mind? Or am I just going to have to stand here and wait until you decide to let me go?" Releasing his iron grip on her Draco took a step back. Slamming his fist against the wall, only five centimetres away from her face, he cursed loudly. She flinched, heart pounding, fear boiling within her, threatening to bubble over.
"Ginny, I swear you're the most infuriating person I've ever met!" he swore, kicking his foot against the railing. She could see desire burn in his eyes but desire to kiss her or hit her? She couldn't tell and didn't want to wait to find out. Turning around she went to flee down the corridor but his hand sought her wrist and he dragged her back.
"I'm sorry, that was rude." He said slowly but she could still feel anger radiating off him."I just can't seem to stay away from you can I?" he murmured.
And then without warning, without any sign or caution he had her pressed up against the railing and was kissing her-hard. Now she could feel desire burning from within her, racing throughout her body baking her blood boil. And the kiss, oh it was so, so wrong, so terribly wrong and yet she couldn't bring herself to stop. He had her face cupped in his hand the other placed gently on her neck. Her hands were entwined in his hair which was soft and silky and everything she had ever imagined. With his lips pressed against hers she felt the whole world ignite and fireworks explode in her heart. He was everywhere; his smell, his touch, his teasing mouth and it was intoxicating. With their bodies pressed up against each other, Ginny felt him wrap his arms around her waist drawing her closer, and closer and yet she couldn't get close enough. She knew she had to stop. It was everything she'd ever wanted and yet it was so wrong. But before she could form another single coherent thought the kiss ended as abruptly as it had started. Feeling dizzy and disorientated she looked up at Draco to see his signature smirk written all over his smug face.
"Not bad, Ginger. I'll come to collect it back one day, though."
SLAP! Ginny felt her palm make contact with this left cheek, not even realising what she was doing. But, Merlin, it felt good. She'd wanted to do that for a long time.
"You stole that kiss from me, Malfoy...and believe me it's going to cost you!" she promised, whipping her hair back over her shoulder and storming off down the remainder of the passageway. As she rounded the corner she glanced back to see him leaning against the railing, lost in thought.
-LATER THAT EVENING-
"Ginny!" Lavender squealed as soon as she spotted her entering through the portrait hole, later that evening .
"Hi Lavender," Ginny said cautiously. Lavender had never been her favourite person.
"Guess what! Oh never mind, you'll never guess so I'll tell you! Seamus asked me to the Senior House Ball!"
Oh. The ball. Right, yeah. The one she had no partner to go with. Great.
"Wow, that's great Lavender!" Ginny forced herself to sound cheery but she sounded flat and monotone even to herself. Luckily Lavender was too wrapped up in her own silly love life to notice.
"...and I have the PERFECT dress I got it from Charlotte's Charm on Saturday and it looks AMAZING! Oh! But you never told me, who are you going with?" Lavender gushed, excitedly.
"No-one. I'm not going," Ginny replied wearily.
"What!" Lavender looked scandalised. "B-but you bought the dress and everything! Did your date ditch you?"
"No," Ginny said a little more forcefully than she intended. "I ditched my date." Not true, but whatever. According to the expression on Lavender's face this made absolutely no sense in her world. "Never mind, whatever, I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning." Ginny muttered as she took off to ascend the stairs to the girl's dormitory.
"W-what? Aren't you coming for the midyear feast?" Lavender called out after her.
"No."
-THE NEXT DAY-
Monday morning. Designed to torture a teenage girl in every manner possible. So far Ginny's day and been a disaster. She'd barely been able to concentrate in Herbology, resulting a very nasty bite from a disgruntled Aramantula Weed. Cursing loudly Ginny had made her way down to the hospital wing and had missed out on the start of Defence against the Dark Arts. No exceptions was the reply she'd gotten from Snape as she'd tried to explain why she was late and why she didn't deserve at detention.
But that wasn't nearly the worst of it. She'd accidentally come across Draco flirting shamelessly with a very pretty Asian girl from the year above her. The random girl turned out to be the infamous Karissa from the train, with her shiny black hair, perfectly pouty lips and dangerously short skirt Ginny couldn't help the hatred that welled up inside her. Karissa's baby blue eyes stared up at Draco flirtatiously and Ginny found herself mournfully wondering whether he'd kissed Karissa the way he'd kissed her. He was playing with a lock of her hair as she laughed loudly at something that he'd said when Ginny snapped. Drawing her wand she prepared to send the nastiest hex she knew at the pair of them when she felt something much worse than jealousy pierce her heart. Sorrow. Sorrow for what she had been about to do. Sorrow for what her relationship with Draco had left her doing. Sorrow because you can never go back and change things, no matter how hard you wish you could. She turned around and began walking away when she ran smack into Harry.
"Woah! Hey Gin, it's good to see you. Look I was wondering if you wanted to go to the ball with me. Cho's already got a date and Lavender told me you were free. Just as friends, of course," He grinned cheerfully down at her.
"Oh," Ginny was taken aback. She looked up at Harry and she knew he was being completely honest. Their relationship might have been a little rocky but he did genuinely want to be friends with her. At this point she wanted nothing more. "That sounds great, but I'm not going to be able to make it to the ball, I really am sorry."
"Oh, okay. That's cool. I'll see you around. Take care, okay?"
"Yep," she replied. "Oh and Harry! I'd love, just to be friends with you, okay?"
"Yeah. I'd like that too," he said, smiling.
-LATER THAT WEEK-
"Hey did you hear? Draco's got a new girlfriend!"
"Haven't you heard? That Asian chick, Karissa and Draco are an item! Crazy, I know."
"Hey! I have the most amazing news: it's official, they're a couple! Poor Pansy."
"Karissa and Draco are like the hottest couple around here!"
"Karissa and Draco are going to the ball together, apparently, because they're like a couple!"
"Wow, Karissa and Draco look great together. Where'd they meet?"
"Karissa..."
"Karissa..."
"Karissa..."
"Karissa..."
"Ginny?"
"What! I don't want to hear anymore about Malfoy and Karissa! Okay?" Ginny snapped, without even turning around to find the source of the voice.
"Oh, no I was just going to ask you if you wanted to go to the ball with me?" Ginny whirled around to find herself face to face with a really good looking guy. Christian. Sandy blonde hair, icy blue eyes, light olive complexion, lean, rockhard body? Check. Christian was from the year above her, in Ravenclaw house. He was smart, funny, an awesome quidditch player and generally a great guy. Being popular Ginny had met him before and they'd had fun together on a number of occasions with groups of different friends.
"Oh, ummm. Yeah okay, sounds good," Ginny found herself replying.
"Really? You don't have a date?" he asked, half teasing.
"Well they tried, but you know me. I've got high standards," Ginny joked.
"But apparently I meet those standards."
"Apparently you do. I'll see you at seven on Saturday."
"Cool."
The scars Draco had left her with still smouldered painfully but maybe, just maybe, she'd found the cure.
Hey guys, let me know what you think about this chapter! This was a hard one what with all the drama, heart break and their first kiss! I need to know if I rushed through it too quickly...I'm happy to rewrite if you don't like the chapter! Rate and review to let me know and have your say in what should happen next!
Next Chapter:
The ball. Finally it's here. Secrets will be revealed. Revenge will be had. Hearts will be broken. But most importantly a relationship will either crumble forever or two hearts will be reunited once more.
So...keep reading, reviewing and loving the story. Next chapter might not be out for a while but when it does...it's going to be spectacular!